The Birth Of Hogwarts
by CrysK
Summary: This story is about the four founders. It will tell the tale of how they became friends and how they came to found a school of magic
1. The New Apprentice

_The New Apprentice_

Several generations had passed since the majority of Britannia had forfeited the belief in the old gods and in magic.

The new religion, with their messiah Jesus, condemned magic and cast away all those who were believed to practice magic.

But on Britannia's northeast coast, close to the borders to Caledonia, there was a small village which still believed in the gods of old and their priestess was said to know spells of healing and defense.

The villagers had faith in the powers and the strength of their priestess. They knew that her name was Amelia Hufflepuff and that she had a daughter named Helga, but the villagers didn't know that she and her daughter was the last living members of an old magical family.

Their whole family had been hunted down by Christians in their crazy hunt for those with unearthly powers when Helga was just a baby.

Amelia had managed to get away with the baby and during her escape she had found the village, where the now dead priestess had made Amelia her successor.

Ten years had passed since that fateful day, and today Amelia was on her way down from the temple to the village to talk to the Ravenclaws about their youngest daughter Rowena.

She had been quite surprised when she had seen the child of a poor peasant using magic to let the flowers she had collected bloom. In order to make sure that the child wouldn't harm herself or anyone else, Amelia had decided to make her a priestess.

That way she would be able to teach Rowena magic without raising any suspicions.

Now all Amelia had to do was to convince the family to leave the just nine year old girl in her care.

Last year's harvest had been poor and the family was running low on food, and that was why Amelia had no doubts that they would approve of it. That aside, being picked as an apprentice of a priestess was a great honor for Rowena.

When Amelia reached the shabby thatched hut, she was still lost in her thoughts and was nearly run over by the children who just rushed out of the house. Their angry mother chased after them cursing badly until she noticed Amelia standing right in front of her.

She stopped in surprise and after some confused staring; Rolanda Ravenclaw re-gathered her composure and greeted Amelia. "Sacred priestess, what brings your eminence to our modest home, if I may ask?"

Still lost in her thoughts it took Amelia a few seconds to gather herself. "Dear Mrs. Ravenclaw, I came here today to discuss the future of your daughter Rowena with you and your husband. I would appreciate it if we could discuss this matter inside; if you don't mind."

"My... My d...dau...daughter?" stuttered Mrs. Ravenclaw. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure before she addressed Amelia again.

"Of course you may enter holiness. I hope you don't mind that the room is currently kind of in a mess. But the children created quite some havoc earlier."

After Mrs. Ravenclaw had invited the priestess in, she stepped aside to allow Amelia to enter the room first. With a nod in Mrs. Ravenclaw's direction, Amelia stepped into the hut and was greeted by chaos.

It seemed as if the children had destroyed the whole place. She decided to take no further notice of it in order to not disgrace the Ravenclaw family.

Rolanda Ravenclaw entered the room right behind her and went over to what seemed to be the kitchen part of it.

"May I offer you some cider and freshly baked pie before I go fetch Robert from the fields?"

"I would really like some cider, but I have to pass on the pie. I just had a meal at the temple before I left. Also, might you bring Rowena along with your husband? I think she should hear what I have to say."

Mrs. Ravenclaw had already started to pour cider in a jug and placed it together with a cup on the table while Amelia was still talking.

"Alright then, I'll be off to bring them here. It might take some time however."

"It doesn't matter how long it takes," chuckled Amelia, "As long as we can discuss the matter it is fine, unless you would prefer to get over with it quickly."

Rolanda Ravenclaw nodded a quick see you later at Amelia and left the hut in a hurry.

While waiting Amelia took a closer look at the inside and wondered once more how such a big family could live in such small quarters. She sighed and took a sip of the cider.

To Amelia it felt like she had only waited a couple of minutes, but when the three Ravenclaws entered their house, the empty cider jug on the table betrayed that feeling.

Upon seeing them she stood up and waited for them to sit down.

"Sacred Priestess, it's an honor to have you here. My wife tells me that your holiness wishes to discuss Rowena's future with us. May I asked why you wish to discuss this matter?" asked Mr. Ravenclaw after shaking Amelia's hand.

"Well of course you may ask. As a matter of fact, I think that Rowena is quite talented and I would like her to become my apprentice together with my own daughter. But I don't intend to make that decision for you. That's why I came here today."

This took the two adult Ravenclaws by surprise and they could just stare at the priestess in shock.

Rowena on the other hand jumped forward until she stood right in front of Amelia and looked at her with big brown eyes and some strands of hair covering her face.

"Does that mean I will become a priestess just like you? And that I will never have to bother with my stupid brothers again? And that I can gather a lot of knowledge?" asked the overly excited girl, anxiously chewing on her lip as she waited for Amelia to reply.

The person in question let out a small chuckle and looked at Rowena approvingly.

"Yes Rowena that is exactly what I meant. Though I think you should stay with your family for a few days, before you move in with Helga and me. And, before we make any plans we should ask for your parents' permission, don't you think so?" replied Amelia with a nod to the other Ravenclaws.

Amelia had hardly said the last words as the young girl whirled around and looked with big begging eyes at her parents, who seemed quite happy themselves. After all if Rowena was becoming a priestess it would mean a great honor and it would make her happier than anything her parents had ever planned for her.

"My darling, if it makes you happy, then we will let you go with the priestess. But you will have to promise us to come back to help us during the time of harvest, can you do that?" asked Mrs. Ravenclaw before Rowena could say anything to them.

Hearing that made the excited girl go wild and she ran and jumped like a wild animal through the whole hut.

Meanwhile Mr. Ravenclaw focused on the priestess.

"We feel honored that your holiness is willing to teach our little tomboy. May I make a suggestion though? Seeing how eager Rowena is, how about letting her start already tomorrow? She could come back on the weekends and help us out a bit until we are all settled with the matter."

"My good Mr. Ravenclaw that is a very good idea I think. I'm very grateful that you are willing to let me teach your precious and only daughter. If you don't mind, I'm going to take my leave now since I still have to prepare everything for your daughter. I suppose that you will accompany her tomorrow, so you can say your goodbyes. Until tomorrow then."

Amelia said goodbye to the Ravenclaws and walked back the way she had come earlier that day.

She was truly relieved that it had gone so well. Never had she expected that the Ravenclaws would have been so easily convinced.

While walking she wondered if the girl was still jumping around, very excited about this new opportunity.

The next morning Rowena woke up really early, despite her being not able to fall asleep until late in the night.

She had been imagining how it would be to learn a lot of new things and couldn't wait for her parents to get up.

A couple of hours later, Rowena and her parents were on their way to the old temple. During the journey she remembered that there would be another girl who would also be learning with her.

Rowena started to wonder what that girl was like and if they would become friends.

That night after Amelia had returned to the temple, she told her daughter Helga about Rowena coming to join in her training. Helga hadn't been too happy with the news and had thrown a tantrum the whole night.

* * *

**The Harry Potter series with all its characters and lore belongs to JK Rowling and not to me.**


	2. The First Day

_The First Day_

It was nice day in late summer when Rowena Ravenclaw left her home for the first time.

Together with her parents she made her way to the local temple. The priestess of the temple had visited them a day ago to inform the Ravenclaws that their only daughter may start as an apprentice with her at the temple.

Rowena loved to gather knowledge and therefore couldn't wait to arrive at the temple. She kept running ahead and calling for her parents to hurry up.

Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw kept their pace and just chuckled at their excited daughter.

When they reached the temple it was still early, but because of the long way the Ravenclaws were already quite hungry.

Rowena didn't seem to care about her rumbling stomach as she ran around to investigate the whole area.

The temple was old and the core had been built long before the Romans had conquered the country.

Most of the buildings were Roman and in ruins. The buildings were placed in a circle around two big circles made of stone.

There were only two houses that were not ruined, a big house in Roman style and a hovel. Somebody seemed to live in the hovel since there was smoke coming out of the chimney.

Next to the hovel was a stack of firewood and an old looking well.

Behind the Roman house there was a small with weeds and bushes overgrown path that led up a hill into a small forest.

Never in her life had Rowena seen anything like this place. She couldn't resist her curiosity and strolled over to one of the ruins.

Meanwhile her parents had reached the hovel and knocked on the door.

Instead of the priestess who they had expected to open the door, a young girl of about twelve had swung it open. The girl stomped with a bright red face out of the hovel, obviously very angry about something.

"I HATE you mother. I wish you wouldn't bother me ever again!" the girl shouted back at the hovel as she ran towards the overgrown path.

"Helga Helena Hufflepuff, you come back here at once and apologize. How dare you talk like that to me? You are disgrace to our family," an angry Amelia Hufflepuff shot back at her daughter as she left the hovel.

Amelia stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the Ravenclaws blocking her way.

They looked at her with wide open eyes, their surprise evident on their faces.

Amelia stepped back into the hovel and took several seconds to regain her composure.

"I am sorry you had to witness that. Please come inside. Where is Rowena?"

Mrs. Ravenclaw looked at her husband first before turning around searching for her daughter.

"Actually I don't have the slightest clue where she went. I thought that she was right behind us," confessed Mr. Ravenclaw, who was now scanning the area as well.

It was Amelia who spotted Rowena. The girl was just about to climb through a damaged window frame, making Amelia to gasp for air.

Mrs. Ravenclaw followed her gaze and saw her daughter. She let out a small cry of dismay and started running towards Rowena when she heard Amelia call out to her.

"Oh no young girl, you are not going to kill yourself on your first day here. The ruins are dangerous and could collapse any second if you aren't prepared."

Amelia had taken out a small wooden stick while talking and was now making some movements with it. Her small speech had stopped Rowena, since she now wasn't moving at all.

Finally Mrs. Ravenclaw had reached her daughter and pulled her towards the hovel.

"How could you do something that stupid? What if she decides now that you can't follow orders and sends you back? Why don't you ever consider the trouble your curiosity could bring on you?" Mrs. Ravenclaw ranted on the way back to the hovel.

To their surprise the priestess was chuckling.

"Looks like I have myself another troublesome apprentice."

"See mother, your rant was pointless. She doesn't mind at all," said Rowena, obviously relieved that she hadn't ruined her opportunity.

"I wouldn't say that I don't mind at all. It would be troublesome for me if you killed yourself while you are in my care. And I don't think your parents will be too happy with me if that happened," said Amelia with a voice that clearly showed her concern.

"Well then, Mr. Ravenclaw, Mrs. Ravenclaw. I would invite you in but I think it is best if you left us now. I'm sure you two still have a lot to do. I will bring back your daughter next Saturday, so don't worry about her."

The Ravenclaws nodded their agreement to Amelia, before shaking hands with her.

After they had said goodbye to her they turned to their daughter, "Be careful and do whatever she asks you to do. You have to behave yourself some more and not do anything stupid like that just now again. We love you and we will miss you lots while you are gone."

"I promise and I will miss you too," cried Rowena.

Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw waved goodbye while walking out of the temple.

Once they were gone Amelia turned around to face Rowena and noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Say sweetie, how about I show you around the temple? You will be amazed at what we have got here."

Rowena cheered up at once and together they started to tour the temple. Amelia told the girl everything she knew about it.

The next morning Helga still hadn't returned and Amelia started to worry about her.

Amelia waited until Rowena got up and told her to take a bath while she went to look for Helga.

Rowena seemed like she wanted to know what this all was about but was stopped before she asked.

Instead she took a towel and the new white dress she had gotten from the priestess and went to take a bath in the Roman style building. She decided that she would look around it before bathing, since she suspected that Amelia would be gone for some time.

Amelia headed up the path that Helga had taken the day before.

It was unusual for her daughter to be gone for such a long time after one of her tantrums. Hoping that nothing had happened the priestess started to search the forest.

Several hours later Rowena had finished exploring the bath and she had even tried to check on the ruins but she had found herself unable to get close to them. So she had given up and decided to have an early lunch.

She was sitting in the sun enjoying some bread with honey when Amelia returned with Helga. The two had a small argument in front of the bath house but in the end Helga lowered her head and entered the bath.

Amelia came over to Rowena and helped herself to something to eat as well. She settled down, grabbing some bread and cheese to eat and looked at the girl.

"Well then, I think it's time that we started your training, don't you think so?"

Rowena nodded at her, waiting impatiently about what was about to come.

"I originally planned on starting with Herbs, but seeing that Helga will be tending the Herb patch for the next couple of months, I think it is best if we start with some history lessons and some general knowledge about the world you just entered."

"The world I just entered? I don't get what you mean your holiness."

"First of all I want you to call me master from now on. And the answer to your question is a bit complicated. I suppose that your parents taught you about the old gods, am I right?"

Rowena nodded as reply, her eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Well then you also know that the priests and priestess are able to do things you others can't do. Only those from a long line of priest are able to do it. But sometimes there is one born to the normal people who are able to use this special power. You are one of them. I saw you when you made those flowers you picked bloom."

Excitedly and still burning with curiosity Rowena rocked her body while listening to the priestess. She couldn't help but wonder what exactly this was about.

"Rowena, you, my daughter, and I are witches and are able to perform magic. You will need to learn how to control your powers and when to use them. I'm sure you remember that after we noticed you climbing through that window you couldn't move anymore. And that you weren't able to get close to the ruins, while I was gone. I had used my magic to prevent you from harm,"

When she finished she looked over at Rowena, seeing how she was taking the news.

Rowena had started to chew on her lip, like she always did when she was excited. She had heard so much about the power of magic from her parents and her friends. They all thought that magic had died out, even if they believed their priestess to be able to use it.

Now this priestess told her that she could do it as well.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Amelia going on with her lesson. "There are a lot of different branches of magic and each family has specialized in one. So I will only be able to teach you about the magical properties of herbs, some basic healing elixir brewing and spells for healing and defense."

**Same as last time, I am not J.K. Rowling and do not own Harry Potter in any way. And big thanks to my beta reader ^.^ I luff my Berry for that.  
**


	3. A Fateful Day

_A Fateful Day_

Several years had passed since Rowena had entered the temple as an apprentice.

She had never managed to become friends with Helga Hufflepuff, the only daughter of her master the priestess Amelia Hufflepuff.

Helga was a spoiled and lazy girl, who had always disliked the idea of another apprentice.

The two of them quarreled nearly every day and had to serve severe punishments every time that they caused havoc.

Today was the last day of the year, the day everybody became a year older.

Rowena had been looking forward to this day for a whole month. She wanted to spend it with her family and meet her newborn nephew for the first time.

Rowena loved watching the big fires that were lit once the sun had set.

Instead she now had to clean the bath house. The whole bathhouse: every single pipe, fire place, pool and wall.

Since the three of them had only used one room regularly, all the others were covered in dust, spider webs and even weeds grew between the joints of the floor.

It would take her a whole week to clean the bath house without using magic. Amelia had forbidden her to use magic and cleaning the bathhouse was her punishment for dying Helga's hair and skin in bright yellow.

Just when Rowena had finished scrubbing the entrance hall Helga walked in.

Much to Rowena's dismay, Helga was covered in mud and left stains all over the floor. She shot a nasty sneer at Rowena as she continued her way to the bath.

"I see you are doing the work that fits someone like you. Oh, look there, it seems like you overlooked some stains," mocked Helga, pointing at the stains she had just left on the floor.

Rowena was about to jump up and punch Helga when Amelia came in the room. She noticed what was going on and decided to stop it before it got worse.

"Helga, why didn't you brush off the mud before you entered? Don't tell me that you just did it to be mean to Rowena."

Helga had been caught in the act. She backed away from her mother.

"I.. I.. No mother I didn't do it on purpose. I just forgot how dirty I had gotten while tending the herbs," Helga muttered.

"You think that I would believe that? Helga what have I done wrong in your education that you became like this? Please tell me," Sighed Amelia, shaking her head in sadness.

"You won't be going to the festivities tonight. Instead you will now clean this room together with Rowena. As soon as you two are done with this room you will take a bath. Then we are going to continue our experiment."

Both girls seemed to be happy that they wouldn't have to do anymore cleaning today and started to scrub the floor after removing all the mud from Helga's shoes.

For once both of them worked peacefully together as they wanted to finish the task as fast as possible. They were looking forward to continue the test with a still unknown herb, which they had found last week in the forest.

In the early afternoon Helga and Rowena left the bath house after their long bath.

Rowena decided to braid her hair so that she wouldn't get water all over their papers, as she had done on the floor, and helped Helga after she decided that she too, would braid her hair.

Once they were done they started to work on their experiment. They already had found out that it wasn't a poisonous plant and were now about to check if it could be used for healing elixirs.

After some time had passed Amelia came to them to check on their work. She had decided to let the girls do whatever they wanted and only check on them sometimes or if they asked for help. She was surprised at how well the girls had done with their task so far.

What surprised her even more was that she had finally found something that made them work peacefully together.

Rowena and Helga didn't even notice that Amelia had come closer because they were completely absorbed in their discussion on how to go on.

Amelia was quite pleased with herself and how her apprentices had come so far.

The sun was setting when Helga and Rowena finally finished with their experiment and went outside to have some dinner.

They were still discussing the experiment when they noticed the red shine coming from the direction of the village.

"Looks like they started the New Year fires early this year," said Amelia who had snuck up behind them.

Rowena looked sadly at the shine of the fires and sighed. She really had wanted to go and see her family.

In the last two months she hadn't been able to visit them, because they had been on a trip in the forest and to another magical family.

Amelia noticed the sadness of Rowena and made a quick decision.

"How about we all go up to the spring and watch the falling stars from there tonight? Then you may go visit your family tomorrow Rowena."

"I could really? That would be great master!" exclaimed Rowena, before dancing up the small path to the spring.

Chuckling Amelia and Helga followed her. They had just reached the path when they heard someone calling out for them in panic. They all thought that it was just one of the women from the village fetching them to help deliver a baby.

Rolanda Ravenclaw ran towards the temple with all her strength and tripped as she reached the priestess. Amelia was shocked to see that she was out of breath and her body full of burn marks and scratches.

She casted a simple healing spell that strengthened Mrs. Ravenclaw enough to tell them what was happening in the village.

"Vikings… village… attack… everything on fire… help," Mrs. Ravenclaw barely managed to say.

Amelia lifted the injured woman in her arms and walked over to one of the ruined houses.

"Quick you two follow me. You will hide in the secret basement of this house. You'll be safe here while I go down to the village and try to rescue as many as possible," Amelia said, her tone demanding obedience.

"You will stay there until I come back. There are enough supplies for you for about one month. In the case that I don't return I want you to stay in there until you run out of food. I will seal the entrance so no one, not even another wizard or witch will be able to enter or find you."

They rushed to the house and some of the rubble in front of it moved away and they could see that a hatch door opened. As fast as possible Amelia brought Mrs. Ravenclaw down and after Rowena and Helga entered the door, Amelia proceeded to seal the entrance.

Amelia grabbed a broom to get down to the village faster. She was hoping that it wasn't too late already.

On the way she casted several layers of permanent shields around the temple so no one who meant harm to the inhabitants could ever reach it.

In less than a third of the time, she reached the village and noticed at once that everything was on fire. She couldn't see any attackers so she started to put out the fires by conjuring water.

Concentrating on her task she nearly oversaw the lightning that came her way.

She managed to evade just in time and immediately started to put up her defensive spells.

Her family had taught her mostly defensive and healing spells, and she had no clue how to attack the invaders.

First of all she had to get back down on the ground; she was too easy a target up in the air.

It wasn't easy to land since several more lightning bolts came flying her way. By the time she had landed she had gotten an idea on how to fight back the invaders. All she had to do was take advantage of the environment and use parts of the burning buildings or stones to attack.

They fought for more than an hour. Amelia had managed to take out two of the attacking wizards, but there was at least one more.

She was running out of strength and the Vikings had already started to come closer.

In a moment of inattention she was hit in the back.

As she collapsed her last thoughts went to Helga and Rowena, hoping that they would be safe.

* * *

**I still don't own JK Rowlings work named Harry Potter.**

***leaves some cookies for reviewers*  
**


	4. Making New Friends?

It had been a rainy day like this when the just nine year old boy had lost his parents in an accident and it seemed like today would be nearly as bad for him. He had tripped over some roots and got his foot stuck between them. It seemed like the boy wasn't able to free himself. Frustrated, he screamed out and hit the ground with his fists until they were bloody. It took him some time to calm down and think about his situation. He saw only one solution for his problem: he had to use magic despite him being untrained.

He prayed to the gods that there wouldn't be anyone close by before he started to concentrate on the roots. Sweat ran down his face as he slowly moved the roots with magic. It took him quite some time, but at last he was done. He tried to get up but fell down instantly when a sharp pain went through his ankle. A curse left his lips at the realization that he had twisted his ankle and couldn't move.

The boy was so lost in his thoughts about his situation that he didn't notice that a girl had approached him. It was only when she had started to bandage his foot with something that looked like she had torn it of her skirt. Her touch caught him of guard and in a kneejerk reaction he pushed her off with magic.

The push had thrown the girl at tree and for a short moment she had lost her orientation. After she had pulled herself together she threw a sad look at the boy before she crawled back to him and continued to bandage his leg. Once she was done she pulled him up and put his arm around her shoulders to support him.

Her reaction to his magical outburst had shocked him so much that he didn't react until she had started to walk deeper in the woods with him. He wondered if she might be a witch herself.

"Uhmm excuse my sudden outburst. You had surprised me there," he started and she seemed to nod her acceptance to the apology, so he continued, "I'm called Salazar, Salazar Slytherin. May I know your name?"

She just kept on walking with a sad look in her eyes. He gulped and wondered if he had done something wrong. He kept silent for quite some time and when he was about to talk to her, she pointed ahead at a cave.

After a few minutes they entered the cave and after the girl had helped Salazar to sit down on a rock she rushed out again. He was still wondering why she had helped him after what he had done to her she came back in.

The girl carried some reeds and started to build something that looked like a simple but comfortable place to rest on. She worked on it in complete silence and gestured to Salazar that she would help him there now. The whole time he had just watched her and finally he had come to a solution to her silent. She couldn't speak.

"I suppose having a conversation with you could be troublesome, but I would really like to know more about you. Maybe I could guess your name?" Salazar suggested, but the girl just shook her head and ran off. Several days had passed since the two children had met and Salazar's ankle had become better. In just a few more days he would be able to walk again. It was midday and he was waiting for the girl to return with some food. Usually she would be in the cave already, but today she was late and he was starting to get worried.

He decided to practice some magic while he waited, not knowing that this was a big mistake. Salazar had levitated some rocks when all of a sudden several men entered the cave. Scared Salazar blew the closest man to him at a wall with his magic. That caused the rest to stop in their tracks.

"Get away from me or you will all end up like him", Salazar shouted; pointing at the unconscious man that had hit his head badly.

"Don't listen to that boy!" a voice hidden in the shadows said, "He is just a little brat and can't take on all of us!"

To Salazar's horror the men seemed to regain their courage and closed in on him. He tried to blast them off with magic too, but he had exhausted himself already with the first blow. The men managedto grab the boy and tied him up tightly.

"See I told you that he couldn't take on all of us" a scarred mean looking man said as he left the shadows and closed in on Salazar, "I knew it would be a good idea to follow that stupid girl, when she kept stealing from my storage."

"What should we do with him?" someone asked the scarred man; obviously the leader of the group.

"You ask what? Stupid question, we will burn him like we did with that stupid witch and her daughter we caught last year. If we don't get rid of them, they will destroy us. They are with the devil."

The scarred man went towards the boy and hit him hard in the face before grabbing his hair and pulling him out of the cave to the village.

Salazar stumbled after him, his foot still not healed completely and feeling like his hair would be ripped out.

Once they reached the village he was thrown in a small shed. He felt betrayed; the girl had brought those men to the cave. She was just like every other human without magic, someone who would hunt those with magic. He tried to free himself, but was too exhausted and the ropes cut into his wrists that were bound to his back. He gave up and fell asleep.

The next morning he was dragged out of the shed and put on a stake.

* * *

Same as the other chapter, I don't own anything and I don't make any profit with this. It's all JK Rowling's.

Sorry for delay real life caught me *hands out cake as apology*


	5. Regret

A young girl watched sadly as the men returned to the village with a boy as their prisoner. This boy was her new friend Salazar and it was her fault he was now imprisoned. On the day before she had brought him food to a hidden cave like every day since she had met him. On that day she had been followed by her stepfather. He had witnessed the boy showing her some magic tricks and after she had left the cave again he had dragged her back to the village. Back there the girl was beaten by him until her back was bloody.

She knew that he hated magic ever since the woman he had loved had accidently hurt him with magic years ago. The woman and her daughter, who was the best friend of the girl, had been burned on the stake. The girl had always enjoyed playing with her magical friend and had wished she could do those tricks too. So she was delighted when she had met Salazar and hoped she could become friends with him and that he might be able to teach her how to do that stuff.

But now all her hopes were destroyed. They were already building the stake on which they would burn the boy on the next day. She kept blaming herself for this and swore to herself that she would somehow rescue him.

The shed he was thrown in was guarded by three men from the village and they would take turns on guarding. That's why she decided to run in to the forest and see if she could ask the old hermit of the forest to help her rescue the innocent child.

The next day, the girl was almost halfway to the hermit's home when she heard hoof beats coming from the edge of the forest. With those hoof beats, she also heard voices. Hopeful that they could help her, she ran to the road, looking for the men to match the voices.

"Father, you can't just kill everyone just because they don't have magic. It's just as stupid as them killing us for having magic."

"Godric boy, you have to understand that if we don't kill them first then they will kill us all. There are far more of them than there are of us. If we let them roam freely there won't be any of us left. Besides they are inferior to us and shouldn't deserve to live at all."

"I still think that we should try to negotiate with them. In the old times we lived together with them and there were no problems."

"Don't bring up those old stories, we Gryffindors never mixed with those inferior to us and we never will."

The girl had decided the second she had heard the word magic that these people could help Salazar. She ran towards the voices as fast as she could, knowing that they were much faster on their horses than she was. After cutting through the forest she ran right in front of the horses and was nearly hit by their hooves when they tried to stop in time.

She saw an old grumpy looking man and a young boy who seemed to be just a few years older than Salazar. Before she could ask them for help however the young boy addressed her.

"Girl, are you alright? Is there a reason why you ran so fast through this place?"

"Don't talk to such filth, it's not worth our attention," the old man grumbled.

"Father please, can't you see that she is scared?" the boy replied. "Don't worry girl; tell me what's wrong."

The girl looked scared at the old men and then turned to the younger.  
"Please… help… wizard... burn on stake." she said with a hoarse, nearly not audible voice pointing towards the village.

"She is saying nonsense and wasting our time, let's leave now Godric." the old men said which caused the girl look in horror at him and shake her head.

"No father. I think she is trying to tell us that they are going to burn a fellow wizard on a stake and wants us to help him. Am I right little one?"

She eagerly nodded and started to dash off towards the village. Godric caught up with her quickly and pulled her on his horse.

"I think this will be faster. Show me the way." he said smiling to her before he asked his father to help him.

Grudgingly the man followed his son to the village. The three arrived just in time as the flames were already closing in on the boy. He screamed in horror and pain. Both wizards took immediate action, but before casting a spell to turn off the flames, Godric put the girl on the ground so he could freely move. At same time his father cast spells to immobilize the village people.

Godric ran to the boy on the stake and freed him, hoping that it wasn't too late to help the boy, noticing that his feet and legs were burned badly. The young boy had slipped out of consciousness, and he put him on his horse before mounting behind him.

He turned around to tell his father that the boy was safe, but before he could say anything the shock of what his father was doing held his tongue. The elder man was slowly torturing and killing the people who had condemned the boy to the stake.

"Stop it father. That is exactly why they hate and fear us. Besides we need to bring the boy to healer as fast as possible or he will have permanent problems."

"I'm the head of the family and I am the one to give orders. You will bring this boy to a healer while I take care of them."

"Ohhh no, you won't continue with this nonsense father. EXPELLIARMUS!" Godric shouted while pointing his wand at his father.

His father's wand flew out of his hands and Godric caught it easily. Godric quickly turned around with his father's wand and headed to the next village where he knew a healer lived, his father following right behind him, cursing the entire way.

The girl stared in horror at what the old man had done to the rest of the village. She somehow regretted having brought them here but was happy at the same time that her friend was now safe.

After the three wizards left the village, she ran towards the injured women and proceeded to help them.

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**The Harry Potter world and all its characters belong to Rowling and I'm not making any profit from this.**


	6. The Summit

_The __Summit_

The corn stood ripe in the fields, ready to be cut after the rituals of Lughnasadh. Just two more days until Lughnasadh and the empty fields around the holy henge on top of the hill was filled already with the tents from wizards and witches from all of Caledonia and Britannia. Every year they gathered around a different holy henge in order to celebrate the rituals of Lughnasadh. It was the time of the first cutting of the corn and also the day on which wizards and witches who had seen their seventeen's summer were going through the ritual of finding their own wand.

But this year's Lughnasadh was special. Every seven years the apprentices were allowed to take their master test and end their apprenticeship. If they passed the tests, which began the day after the rituals, they could leave their master and find their own students. If they wished to gain more knowledge, they chose a new master who had excelled in different fields than their previous.

Rowena Ravenclaw had left the tent she shared with her friend Helga Hufflepuff. The two of them had taken the tests seven years ago. A year after the day that changed their lives: the day their master Amelia Hufflepuff had died for their sake. The two girls had survived an attack of the Vikings by hiding in a secret room of the ruined temple they lived in. The only other survivor had been Rowena's mother but she had passed away last year. They had been lucky to have been able to take the tests despise their masters death. Usually it was forbidden to take them without a master, but they had the fortune to meet the kind family of Angus Peverell, who took their masters place during the tests.

From nearly every tent she could hear discussions about those who had no magic starting to attack more and more wizards and witches. They had started to call them muggles, because they thought of them as foolish and lacking the skill of magic. Rowena was shocked to notice how much hatred had grown and sincerely hoped that they wouldn't start a war. She wished there was a place where all wizards and witches, without regards of their ancestors could learn how to control their magic.

Last year Rowena had met a young man named Godric, who had shared her vision of a place to teach all the children equally and now she was looking for him. Godric had told her that he would come to this year's Lughnasadh in order to have his stepbrother take the tests. It took her some time but finally she found Godric and his brother Salazar.

"Sir Godric my friend. I was hoping to meet you here this year." she addressed him.

"Lady Ravenclaw," both Godric and Salazar greeted.

"Godric, Lady Ravenclaw, if you would please excuse me. I would like to prepare some more for the test."

"Of course Salazar, take all the time you need. But don't forget to take a rest too," Godric advised his brother.

Salazar walked towards the henge on the hilltop while Godric and Rowena sat down on some logs and resumed their discussion from last year about a place of learning and teaching.

Salazar didn't want more time to study, he wanted was to get away from those two flirting. They had done that already last year and he wondered how much longer he had to endure it before his brother got the courage to ask her to marry him.

While he strolled between the tents, he witnessed a child fall down from a tree and injure his leg. Salazar rushed over to the kid and gently picked him up to bring him to a healer. The boy struggled at first in pain but after some soothing words from Salazar he calmed down.

After a few minutes he arrived at the healer's tent. A small girl was in front of it and sorting herbs.

"Little miss, would you be so kind and fetch your master? I have got an injured child here." Salazar asked the girl, who at once entered the tent.

"What happened to the child?" asked the young woman who left the tent right before the girl.

"He climbed a tree and fell down. I think he broke his leg" said Salazar as he gently put down the boy.

The woman started to examine the boy at once. She spoke with a silent and calming voice to the boy in order to calm him down and distract them from what she was about to do. When the boy was calmed down she took his leg and straightened it so the ends of the broken bones would come together. This caused the boy to cry out in pain and started to struggle once again.

"You there," the woman addressed Salazar, "help me by holding him down. I can't have him worsen his injury."

"Why don't you use a spell to hold him down or give him a pain reliever?" asked Salazar curiously as he proceeded to what he was asked to.

"Mainly because they would interfere with the healing spells I'm about to use."

Salazar curiously watched how the woman held her hands gently above the broken bone and started to chant. It wasn't the first time that he wished to have learned more than just potions while he took in every little thing the healer did. This was why he would search for another master right after the tests. Seeing this made him consider choosing a healer, maybe even her.

After a while the woman finished the chanting on the bones and took out a small vial of a bag close to her and gave it to the boy.

"There drink this and then you can run back to your parents. But be careful and don't climb any more trees in the next days," she said to the boy. She then turned to Salazar, "Thanks a lot sir for helping me out there. If I may introduce myself, I am Helga Hufflepuff. Who might you be?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you my lady. I am Salazar Slytherin," he said with a bow to the woman.

Helga started to giggle as she watched Salazar bow to her. This caused Salazar to frown and he got confused. "May I ask, if I did something wrong Lady Hufflepuff?" he queried.

"No sir you didn't. It's just that no one ever called me a lady or bowed to me. They usually just call me Helga or mistress healer. Please excuse my laughter, I did not mean to offend you with it," she said, giggling some more, "And please, call me Helga."

Salazar threw her glances of utter disbelief before he himself started to laugh lightly. After both of them had calmed down a bit, they started to have a conversation about various things, and at the end he had even asked her if she would consider taking him in as apprentice after he had passed the tests.

As the sun started to set, the two of them walked to the henge on the hilltop, meeting up with Rowena and Godric to take part in the holy rituals. Together with other witches and wizards, they lit the bonfires around the henge and then stepped inside the wooden circle. They then waited for the elders to start the ritual.

Like every year, it started with the introduction of those old enough to go through the finding of their wands. The young who had just came of age gave their training wands to their masters and then gathered in the middle to take the ritual potion that would allow them to go in trance to search for themselves in order to find their wand.

The four friends who watched the whole scene were lost in the memories of their own journey. After all the apprentices were in trance, the main ritual started. All of them began to chant the old oral tradition, which led back to the beginnings of magic.

Around midnight Salazar left the summit together with the rest of those ready to take the tests. They walked over to a group of trees which would serve as testing grounds. The apprentices were sorted by their field of training and taken to their examiners. The tests would take several days all together but it depended on each how fast they could accomplish their goals. The potions test usually lasted the longest because several potions needed days sometimes months to finish.

Just two days had passed when Salazar finished his tests, despite being in the potions group. He was the fastest ever to pass his tests. Godric, Rowena and Helga hadn't expected him to finish this fast but never the less they had already prepared a celebration to congratulate Salazar.

During the celebration the four of them decided to stay together and teach each other about their different fields of magic. They had agreed on moving to an old motte of the Gryffindor family far in the north close to a small settlement called Hogsmeade.

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**Same as always, I am not J.K. Rowling and do not own Harry Potter in any way.**


	7. The Beginning of a Journey

It was early in the morning when Godric and Salazar parted from Rowena and Helga after celebrating Salazar's rush through the examinations. They had decided to rest until noon and then depart together in the early afternoon.

Since they had celebrated in the women's tent the two just needed to drop on their sleeping rolls to take a rest. Helga fell asleep at once but Rowena remained awake and thought about their plans. She was looking forward to learn some dueling from Godric but she was more curious about what Salazar could teach her about potions. Ever since Amelia had taught her basic healing potions she had been looking forward to learn more potions. She had read scrolls that discussed potions at the home of the Peverell's who had taken her and Helga in. But no one in the Peverell family was a potion master: they had specialized in transfiguration spells and one of the elder Peverell women was a healer. But since Minerva Peverell had already been very old she could only take one of them as apprentice and she had chosen Helga. She had made this decision after seeing Rowena's thirst for knowledge and had come to the conclusion that it would be best for Rowena to learn something new. Rowena had gratefully taken the opportunity and had soon mastered everything they could teach her. Her thirst for knowledge was still strong and she wondered about the things she would learn from Godric and Salazar. She fell asleep as she was thinking of new spells to master.

The two men staggered towards their tent after leaving Rowena and Helga. Godric was drunk and Salazar had trouble keeping him on his feet and directing him to the tent. Not for the first time Salazar cursed the fact that Godric liked the ale too much and didn't know when to stop. It took them some time to get to the tent but when they finally entered it, Salazar just dropped Godric on his blankets and sat down on his own. He noticed that Godric had started snoring at once and sighed.  
Salazar knew that he should get some sleep as well but he couldn't stop thinking about what was lying ahead of them. He remembered faintly that the motte they planned to stay at hadn't been used in years and wondered if it was actually inhabitable. His thoughts trailed off and he started thinking about the two women that were going to join them. He had taking a liking to Rowena and her thirst for knowledge. After several more minutes, sleep finally took over and he was snoring just like Godric.

When Godric woke up several hours later, he noticed that he was not sleeping in his tent. Surprised, he jumped up and looked around in distress. He seemed to be where his tent had been standing but it was just gone. In his confusion he didn't notice the slight giggles coming from behind him until they grew into a loud laughter. When he turned around his eyes widened as he notice that Salazar was sitting at the remains of a fire together with Rowena and Helga.

"What's going on and what happened to the tent?" Godric asked.

"Well, we thought we should pack already, so that we are able to start once you are awake. And seeing how you just woke up we can leave now," said Salazar with an evil smirk.

"And just in case you didn't notice, we are sitting in front of the luggage," added Helga, though she seemed to have trouble keeping in her laughter.

"You might also want to check on your garments. I doubt you should head out looking like that," Rowena said with a blush on her face.

Godric stared at them in utter confusion. He wasn't sure what was going on. He decided to check on the luggage but he didn't get far. It hadn't even taken one step and he fell on his nose. Since he was still tired and half asleep he wasn't able to stop his fall. He started cursing while trying to get up.

"Tsk, what a bad mouth you have Sir," said Rowena with a slight disgust in her voice.

"What did you do to me?" shouted Godric with anger.

"Do to you? We didn't do anything except packing the luggage and waiting for you to wake up. It's not our fault that you didn't check your clothes before moving. Rowena did warn you," Salazar said with a silent and dangerous tone.

"What?" Godric bellowed, the sound echoing in the small clearing.

Instead of answering him the others just pointed at his legs. This caused Godric, who was still lying on the ground to turn around and look at himself. He blushed with shame when he noticed that his shirt was torn and his bare chest was showing. But what really was shocking that his trousers had dropped down to his knees and were the reason for his fall.

"I apologize for my behavior and appearance," Godric said to the women, blatantly ignoring Salazar.

"You are forgiven," Helga and Rowena said together while drawing their wands.

The two nodded at each other and then raised the wands. After some spell work Godric was now reasonably dressed and holding a small meal. This display of skill amazed both Godric and Salazar.

"I always thought creating food out of nothing wasn't possible," said Salazar curious.

"You are right about that. But I didn't create it, I simply summoned it from our luggage," explained Rowena. "And now hurry up. I wish to leave before it becomes too late. It's already past noon and we agreed to head out at noon."

Salazar looked like he wanted to discuss the summoning of the food more, but he was stopped by Godric.

"I can eat while we travel," he said while pointing his wand at his blankets and adding them to the luggage.

Their entire luggage had been loaded on the small cart that the women had used to get to the summit. But now Godric's donkey would pull it instead of them. True to his words Godric had taken the reins and started moving, while quickly devouring the meal. The other three hadn't even gotten up yet and were just watching Godric.

"You think we should tell him?" asked Salazar.

"Is he somehow directionally challenged?" Rowena asked Salazar, but he just shrugged.

"Maybe he forgot, that we wanted to head to our place first," Helga offered.

Godric, who was already gotten quite far away, turned around and shouted: "I thought you guys were in a hurry. Are you coming or not?"

"We are coming, but you are headed in the wrong direction," Helga said. "We need go east first."

Godric just shrugged, turned around but once again headed in the wrong direction. Once again the three others laughed at him and came to the conclusion that he indeed was directionally challenged. They quickly gathered the last bits of luggage, turned off the fire and walked up to Godric. After reaching him Rowena took the reins and leaded them to the east, to their home at the Peverell's.

At dusk they set up a camp, but they could still see the fires of the summit behind them. Godric wanted to set up just one tent so it would be easier, but everybody else disagreed. While he set up the tents together with Salazar, the two women went to gather some firewood. When they were down they all sat down together at the fire. Rowena had gone hunting and now there were two rabbits roasting in the fire. They kept talking about the motte and the possibility to gather children to teach them magic there until the moon rose.

They continued their journey at dawn and reached the home of the Peverell family on the next day around noon. The Peverell's had left the summit already on the morning of the first test and therefore were already at home. Rowena and Helga introduced the Peverell's to Godric and Salazar and they all decided to stay a few days because it would take some time to pack all the stuff the women wished to take with them.

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**You all know how this works, I'm not JK Rowling and therefore I don't own Harry Potter and its world. But I sure wish I did because then I would be rich now ^.^;; As things are I don't earn any money with this and will never.**

Free cookies for all who stayed with me until this chapter.


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